got a new lexus Options

[azian_advanced]

I got home last night to find a new lexus in the driveway. My dad had picked it up since he was able to get a really good deal on it. Ever since he's driven my uncle's Lexus LS and Sequoia, he really wanted to get out of the 4-cyl world. He wanted a newer car with luxury & torque but with a manual transmission and I told him these types of cars are hard to come by that's still a Toyota or Lexus. I told him this car is the perfect choice and it' a rare car because the 5spd M/T only began in the '02 models and only a small amount of them were made.

I quickly took it for a spin and the 2jz (non-turbo) really delivers smooth and sufficient low-end torque. It was a blast to drive. Also, the gear ratios were just right to match the torque delivery imo. The shifting is shorter than the celi but the stick is slightly angled while in neutral which I though was awkward. The clutch pedal felt a bit spongy so I'm guessing it's still on the original clutch but it's still able to put down the power.

Upon further research, it has the 'premium plus' package including LSD, headlamp washers, traction control, and a couple of other gadgets. The previous owner just so happens to be a celica enthusiast also (pic) and the IS was their daily driver.

Anyway, I'm really excited to add another toyota in the family and so is my dad. he was kind of upset it didn't come with the original 17" wheels so he's already looking for a new set of summers.














This post has been edited by azian_advanced: Aug 30, 2011 - 9:22 AM

[Batman722]

nice !

[jimmykay]

very nice. I surprised at how similar it is to the Celica interior.

But what's the deal with the fuel door? it doesn't match the body line.
I also agree that I'm not a big fan of the wheels.

Year? Mileage?

[block]

5spds are hard to come by. And if you find one, the owner will say its rare and will jack up the price. It took me former to find a 5spd so I settled for an auto. GL with it, its a fun car!

[richee3]

Nice pickup! I've only ever seem one Solar Yellow IS. All the manuals I found were beaters so I went with an auto. I'm not nearly as sold on the car as most people, but I also can't think of a good reason to get rid of mine. My biggest complaint is that I basically have a Corolla with leather seats, bad gas mileage, and a ridiculous insurance premium. I could insure a 2009 C6 Corvette for less than my '02 IS. Does yours have stability control?

Love the auto climate control, by the way. Mine freezes me out on 100* days.

This post has been edited by richee3: Aug 30, 2011 - 6:58 PM

[BonzaiCelica]

ooo soo nice. I love the interior design of these cars so much. If I didn't get such a good deal on the celica that I bought back in January, I would of definitely got an is300!! ooh btw we want some more pics of your custom made lip Azain!!!

[stephen_lee]

oh my.

share?

[azian_advanced]

it's an '02 with 147k miles (236k kms) which is a little high. but the best part is we were able to get it for about half of what the normal market value is for this model so i think it was a fair deal. i'm not sure if it has stability control as i still have a lot of forum reading/research to do. it has a "trac off" and a "snow" button, is that the same as stability control?

there's also a few issues with the car but nothing my dad and i can't handle

the gas lid is bent and it seems someone tried to pry it open to steal gas or something and messed up the door and maybe even the striker. it will only open if one person pulls the gas lid while the other holds the release handle.

also, the A/C doesn't work. i'll have to look for the 2jz repair manual and find out how to diagnose it. i hope it's just low on freon, then it would just be around $50 to fix.

the front bumper was replaced but the previous owners didn't drill holes for the headlamp washer nozzles. so when i push the headlamp washer button, there's a pool of washer fluid on the ground in front of both front tires.

and the LH side of the front grill isn't properly fastened and is made of some POS plastic chrome. i don't think it's an oem part to be honest.

otherwise, everything works great. i'm really looking forward to driving this in the winter with the brand new winter tires it came with and test out the traction control, LSD, use the snowboard trap door, and enjoy the heated seats. my dad says he'll need to add sandbags in the trunk for extra grip like what he does for his pickup truck but hopefully we won't need them because it'll just kill the fuel economy. all it needs now is a compustar pro alarm/starter.

[richee3]

The easiest way to tell if you have stability control is to try to get the rear end to kick out. Trac on or off, it doesn't matter. These cars have an overly aggressive stabilty control that can't be shut off. Trust me, you'll know VERY fast if it has stability control or not. SC removes any chance of fun from the car. It sounds like you've got a few simple issues to solve with it, none of that sounds like a big deal at all. The fuel lid might be annoying but that's about it. The seat heaters won't blow your mind but they work, that's the important bit. My IS isn't as quick as I hoped it would be but at the same time, I've noticed that I never have to rev it past 4k when I'm accelerating. And when it comes time to pass slow traffic, the car really shines.

[block]

What? I pay 65 every month for full coverage with low deductables for my is300. The highest insurance car I've own was my Mr2 turbo which ran me 210 every month weird.

This post has been edited by block: Aug 31, 2011 - 2:14 PM